Multi-device display processing

ABSTRACT

Two separate executing agents that execute on two separate devices coordinate to animate objects between two separate displays. The agents take control and pass control of the objects presented on the displays between one another and a common scene can be synchronized between the two displays by the agents. The objects are animated and rendered on the displays by the agents.

BACKGROUND

Typically, multiple displays are synchronized based on specific startingtimes for each of the displays. Objects that span the multiple displaysare deterministic so as to appear to be synchronized but the objects arenot capable of handling user interaction. Sometimes animated objects mayappear synchronized by synchronizing time and animating the objects atpre-determined (still deterministic) times over specific intervals.

Another approach is to utilize a single computing host to controlmultiple displays. In this situation, the objects can be interactive andnot deterministic but a single host is controlling the objects on thedisplays. This is similar to extending a user's desktop to two or moredisplays and objects presented on the display can be moved from displayto display through user interaction.

However, this latter approach is inefficient for many reasons. The hostcan be loaded with other processing, which affects the interaction andanimation of the objects adversely. Furthermore, most displays anddevices with displays include computing capabilities, such that takingthis latter approach leaves processing capabilities on one of thedisplays underutilized.

Therefore, what is needed is an approach where two or more devices cancooperate to achieve interactive animations of objects presented on thedisplays of the devices.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, methods and a system are presented formulti-device display processing.

According to an embodiment, a method for multi-device display processingis presented. Specifically, in an embodiment, a first device identifiesa second device over a network connection. A connection between thefirst device and the second device is established over the networkconnection. A synchronized scene is set and is presented on a firstdisplay of the first device and a second display of the second device.Animated objects are managed as the animated objects are passed back andforth over the network connection while being presented within thesynchronized scene on the first display and the second display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system 100 for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method for multi-device displayprocessing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a system for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system 100 for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment. It is to be noted that thecomponents are shown schematically in greatly simplified form, with onlythose components relevant to understanding of the embodiments beingillustrated.

Furthermore, the various components (that are identified in the FIG. 1)are illustrated and the arrangement of the components is presented forpurposes of illustration only. It is to be noted that other arrangementswith more or less components are possible without departing from theteachings of multi-device display processing presented herein.

The system 100 includes device 1 110 (hereinafter “first device 110”)including display 1 111 (hereinafter “first display 111”) and displayagent 1 112 (hereinafter “first display agent 112”). The system 100 alsoincludes one or more devices N+1 120 (hereinafter “second device 120”)have display N+1 (hereinafter “second display 121”) and display agentN+1 122 (hereinafter “second display agent 122). It is noted thatalthough reference is made to first and second devices 110 and 120 thereis no upward limit on the number of devices participating in the system(notated by the “N+1” notation in the FIG. 1). It is also to be notedthat each device 110 and 120 can include more than 1 display.

Each device 110 and 120 minimally also includes at least one hardwareprocessor, memory, and non-transitory storage.

As used herein an “object” refers to a software module that represents areal world item or virtually created item. The object includesattributes, properties, settings, and methods that can be processed bythe software module.

An “animated object” is an object that dynamically changes, visuallyappears to be in motion, and can be interacted with through inputdevices or touch as it is presented on the displays 111 and 121 of thedevices 110 and 111.

The display agents 112 and 222 are software modules that process asexecutable instructions on the devices 110 and 120. The agents 112 and222 cooperate and communicate with one another in a Peer-To-Peer (P2P)connection 115. The agents 112 and 122 share processing of objects overthe connection and present the visual attributes of the objects on theirrespective displays 110 and 120. To do this, processing control over anygiven object can be passed from one agent 112 on one device 110 to theother agent 122 on the other device 120 over the P2P connection.

When a display agent 112 or 122 is initiated for processing on a device110 or 120, the display agent 122 or 122 searches for another compatibledevice 110 or 120 that includes another executing instance of thedisplay agent 112 or 122. When the two agents 112 and 122 discover oneanother a P2P connection is established over Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® LowEnergy (BLE), Wi-Fi, etc. using a P2P or Wi-Fi direct protocol afterexchanging information.

Each display agent 112 and 122 is configured to establish or discoverits display's (111 and 121) capabilities and current settings, pixeldensity, visible width, visible height, color range, brightness range,whether the display 111 or 121) is touch enabled for receiving touchinput, whether the display 111 or 121 includes other input devices forinteracting with objects presented on the display (such as mouse,stylus, keyboard, voice input translated to text from a microphone,image processing input from images captured by a camera, etc.), and thelike.

One of the two connected agents 112 or 122 can establish a scene for thetwo connected agents 112 and 122. This can be done through a sceneobject that has visual and audio attributes and settings configured byone of the agents 112 and 122. The other agent 112 or 122 receives thescene object and establishes the joint scene by processing the sceneobject. The scene object creates a visual scene when processed on boththe displays 111 and 121 and both devices 110 and 120 process their ownindependent instance of the scene object to establish the joint visualscene that is shared between the two displays 111 and 120. This createsa synchronization of the scene. Each independent scene has its ownboundaries that is managed by its agent 112 or 122 based on that agents'display settings (width, height, pixel density, font size, scalingfactor, etc.).

The scene can also be initialized with initial objects placed within thescene. The objects can also be added to the synchronized screen byeither of the agents 112 or 122. The scene object includes a method fortaking possession and passing control of any given object.

Touch input associated with the displays 111 or 121 or other inputdevices of the devices 110 and 120 can be operated by users of thedevices 110 and 120 to interact with the objects. Input characteristicsfor original display position, speed, and trajectory on the sourcedisplay 111 or 121 (display 111 or 121 where the input is received froma user) is noted by the agent 112 or 122) and the object is animated asmoving across the source display 111 or 121 until the object reaches anout-of-bounds condition for the source display 111 and 121. At thispoint, the agent 112 or 122 passes the animated object with the inputcharacteristics over the P2P connection 115 to the target display 111 or121 where the receiving agent 112 or 122 takes possession of the objectwithin the synchronized scene and continues to animate the object onthat agent's display 111 or 121 based on the animated object'sattributes, properties, and input characteristics.

Each agent 112 and 122 continually iterates processing (loops) lookingfor objects that need: to have possession transferred to the other agent112 or 122, are being passed from the other agent 112 or 122, are beingnewly added through operation of an existing object, are being newlyadded through input received, and are being removed from the scene.

Some objects may include properties that permit the objects to bounceoff of a boundary in one or both of the displays 110 and 120. Forexample, an object property may cause the agents 112 and 122 to bounceoff of top and bottom boundaries of the displays 111 and 121 and tobounce off one side boundary in each of the displays 111 and 121 (suchas the non-adjacent side boundaries between the two displays 111 and 121when the displays 111 and 121 are arranged next to one another. Theshared side boundary between the two displays 111 and 121 permit theobject to be transferred from one display 111 or 121 to the otherdisplay 111 or 121 as if there were now actual physical boundary betweenthe two displays 110 and 120 at the shared side boundary.

It is noted that the shared boundary can be a top or bottom boundary. Itis also noted that when more than two displays 110 and 120 aresynchronized for the same shared scene (through the screen object), theshared and unshared boundaries can be established or set, such thatthere can be multiple shared boundaries and arranged in a differentmanner from one another.

It is also noted that a processing state of any animated object mayautomatically generate a new object placed into the scene.

The system 100 permits multiple devices 110 and 120 to independentlyprocess animated objects with a synchronized scene and configured sharedboundaries. Control for processing the animated object is passed overthe P2P connection 115 between the devices 110 and 120 and independentlyprocessed by the agents 112 and 122.

In an embodiment, the first device 110 is a digital sign and the seconddevice 120 is a digital sign. In an embodiment, the first device 110 isa digital sign and the second device 120 is a mobile device operated bya user. In an embodiment, one or more of the devices 110 and 120 is aSelf-Service Terminal (SST) or a Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal. In anembodiment, both devices 110 and 120 are mobile device operated byusers.

In an embodiment, the devices 110 and 120 can be two or more of: aphone, a laptop, a desktop computer, a tablet, a wearable processingdevice, a digital sign, a POS terminal, an ATM, a kiosk, a self-serviceretail checkout, and an appliance that is part of the Internet-of-Things(IoTs).

In an embodiment, the scene object is a game and the animated objectsare objects presented within the game.

In an embodiment, the scene object is an informational animatedapplication and the animated objects are presented for interaction toobtain a user-directed piece of information (such as location of an itemof interest, details on the item of interest, etc.).

In an embodiment, the scene object is an advertisement that is animatedand synchronized across multiple displays 110 and 120 creating thevisual appearance of one very large integrated and synchronized displayfor the advertisement.

In an embodiment, the devices 110 and 120 include cameras that processimages and provide the processed image information as input to theagents 112 and 122. The scene object includes an avatar object thatfollows/tracks a user as the user moves from in front of one display 110to another display 120. The devices 110 and 120 also include microphonesand speech to text (S2T) and text to speech (T2S) processing. The S2Tprovides text input to the agents 111 and 121 and translates output textfrom the avatar to speech played over speakers of the devices 110 and120. The avatar acts as a personal assistant to the user as the userpasses displays 110 and 120 within an establishment. In an embodiment,the avatar follows the user throughout the establishment to answer anyquestions the user may have and provide information requested by theuser while in the establishment.

In an embodiment, the agents 112 and 121 are implemented as mobileapplications that can be downloaded, installed, and initiated on thedevices 110 and 120 through a network connection to an applicationstore.

These embodiments and other embodiments are now discussed with referenceto the FIGS. 2-4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method 200 for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment. The software module(s) thatimplements the method 200 is referred to as a “display agent.” Thedisplay agent is implemented as executable instructions programmed andresiding within memory and/or a non-transitory computer-readable(processor-readable) storage medium and executed by one or moreprocessors of a device. The processor(s) of the device that executes thedisplay agent are specifically configured and programmed to process thedisplay agent The display agent has access to one or more networkconnections during its processing. The network connections can be wired,wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the display agent is an instance of one of: the agent112 and 122.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the display agent is one of:the device 110 and 120.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the display agent is one of:a tablet, a phone, a wearable processing device, a laptop, a desktopcomputer, a kiosk, a digital sign, an ATM, an appliance that is part ofthe IoTs, a kiosk, and a self-service retail checkout.

The display agent interacts with at least one separate and independentinstance of the display agent that executes on a different device fromthe device that the display agent executes on.

Within the context of the processing for the display agent, it is notedthat the display agent processes on a first device and interacts with asecond display agent the processes on a second device. Each displayagent controls at least one display that is associated with its device.The two display agents on multiple-devices control display processingfor two separate displays cooperatively in the manners discussed aboveand below.

At 210, the display agent (processing on the first device), identifies asecond device over a network connection.

According to an embodiment, at 211, the display agent identifies thenetwork connection as a wireless P2P network connection.

In an embodiment of 211 and at 212, the display agent receives a messageover the network connection from a second display agent that isprocessing on a second device.

At 220, the display agent establishes a connection between the firstdevice and the second device over the network connection.

In an embodiment of 212 and 220, at 221, the display agent exchangesinformation with the second display agent to establish the P2P networkconnection using a Wi-Fi direct protocol.

At 230, the display agent sets a synchronized scene that is presented onthe first display by the display agent and on the second display by thesecond display agent of the second device.

In an embodiment of 221 and 230, at 231, the display agent providesinitial settings for the synchronized scene to the second display agentof the second device. This may include some initial animated objects inthe synchronized scene that is presented on the second display but notnecessarily on the first display.

According to an embodiment of 231 and at 232, the display agentprocesses the settings with a scene object for presenting thesynchronized scene on the first display. Similarly, the second displayagent of the second device processes the settings on a second instanceof the scene object for presenting the synchronized scene on the seconddisplay.

In an embodiment of 232 and at 233, the display agent renders at leastsome of the animated objects exclusively on the first display based onprocessing the scene object.

In an embodiment of 233 and at 234, the second display agent rendersother ones of the animated objects exclusively on the second displaybased on processing the second instance of the scene object.

At 240, the display agent manages animated objects as the animatedobjects are interactively and dynamically passed back and forth over thenetwork connection while being presented within the synchronized sceneon the first display by the display agent and the second display by thesecond display agent.

In an embodiment, 241, the display agent renders select ones of theanimated objects on the first display while the second display agentrenders other ones of the animated objects selectively on the seconddisplay.

In an embodiment, at 242, the display agent passes control of aparticular animated object being rendered on the first display to thesecond display agent of the second device when the particular animatedobject moves passed a shared boundary between the first display and thesecond display and becomes out of bounds to the first display.

In an embodiment of 242 and at 243, the display agent renders movementof the particular animated object on the first display passed from theshared boundary in response to interactive input received on the firstdevice with respect to the particular animated object.

According to an embodiment, at 250, the display agent and the seconddisplay agent enforce shared game rules for paying an interactive gamewithin the synchronized scene as the animated objects moves betweenbeing presented on the first display to the second display and as theanimated object moves between being presented on the second display tothe first display.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method 300 for multi-device displayprocessing, according to an example embodiment. The software module(s)that implements the method 300 is referred to as a “mobile displayapplication (app).” The mobile display app is implemented as executableinstructions programmed and residing within memory and/or anon-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium andexecuted by one or more processors of a device. The processors thatexecute the mobile display app are specifically configured andprogrammed to process the mobile display app. The mobile display app hasaccess to one or more network connections during its processing. Thenetwork connections can be wired, wireless, or a combination of wiredand wireless.

In an embodiment, the mobile display app is an instance of one of: theagent 112 and 122.

In an embodiment, the mobile display app is the method 200.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the mobile display app is oneof: the device 110 and the device 120.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the mobile display app is oneof: a tablet, a phone, a wearable processing device, a laptop, a desktopcomputer, a kiosk, a digital sign, an ATM, an appliance that is part ofthe Internet-of-Things (IoTs), a kiosk, and a self-service retailcheckout.

The mobile display app presents another and in some ways an enhancedprocessing perspective of the method 200.

The mobile display app interacts with at least one separate andindependent instance of the mobile display app that executes on adifferent device from the device that the mobile display app executeson.

At 310, the mobile display app renders interactive animated objects on afirst display controlled on a first device that executes the mobiledisplay app.

At 320, the mobile display app moves at least one interactive animatedobject on the first display passed a shared boundary between the firstdisplay and a second display controlled by a second mobile display appof a second device. The movement is responsive to interactive inputreceived for the at least one interactive animated object on the firstdevice.

The interactive input can be through touch when the first display istouch enabled. The interactive input can be based on spoken audio into amicrophone. The interactive input can also be based on image processinginformation for images captured from a camera of the first device. Stillfurther, the interactive input can be through a mouse, a stylus, akeyboard, or any input mechanism.

At 330, the mobile display app passes control of the at least oneinteractive animated object to the second display agent of the seconddevice for continuous presented (rendered) movement of the at least oneinteractive animated object from the first device to the second device.

In an embodiment, at 331, the mobile display app processes when aloyalty application is initiated and processed on the first device. Thefirst device is a user-operated mobile device and the second device is adigital sign. That is, the mobile display app is initiated when the userinitiates the user's loyalty app on the user's mobile device.

According to an embodiment, at 340, the mobile display app takes controlof a different interactive animated object passed from the seconddisplay agent of the second device when the different interactiveanimated object passes the shared boundary from presentation on thesecond display. Then, the mobile display app presents the differentinteractive animated object on the first display once control is takenfrom the second device.

In an embodiment, at 350, the mobile display app processes at least oneof the interactive animated objects as an avatar rendered (presented) onthe first display.

In an embodiment of 350 and at 351, the mobile display app receivessecond interactive input as voice (spoken) instructions through amicrophone of the first device from a user and translates the voiceinstructions from an audio format to text instructions processed by theavatar.

In an embodiment of 351 and at 352, the mobile display app passescontrol of the avatar presented on the first display to the secondmobile display app of the second device for presentation on the seconddisplay based on image processing for images captured from a camera ofthe first device. The image processing tracks the user moving from alocation of the first display to a second location associated with thesecond display. In an embodiment, the first and second devices aredigital signs and the avatar provides a personal assistance experiencefor the user as the user moves about an establishment. In an embodiment,the processing continues for more than two devices located in theestablishment with each of the additional devices processing an instanceof the mobile display app.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a system 400 for multi-device display processing,according to an example embodiment. The system 400 includes a variety ofhardware components and software components. The software components ofthe system 400 are programmed and reside within the memory of anon-transitory computer-readable medium and executes on one or moreprocessors of the system 400. The system 400 may communicate over one ormore networks, which can be wired or wireless or, a combination of wiredand wireless.

In an embodiment, the system 400 is implemented on at least the device110 and 120 of the FIG. 1.

In an embodiment, the system 400 implements, inter alia, the processingdiscussed above with the FIGS. 1-3.

The system 400 includes a first device 410 having a first display 411and a first display agent 412 and a second device 420 having a seconddisplay 421 and a second display agent 422. The first display agent 412executes on the first device 410 and controls presentations made on thefirst display 411. The second display agent 422 executes on the seconddevice 420 and controls presentations made on the second display 421.

In an embodiment, the first device 410 is a different type of devicefrom the second device 420.

In an embodiment, the first device 410 is a same type of device as thesecond device 420.

In an embodiment, the first device 410 and the second device 421 areboth digital signs.

In an embodiment, the first device 410 and the second device 420 are twodevices selected from any combination of: a tablet, a laptop, a digitalsign, a desktop computer, a POS terminal, an ATM, a kiosk, a wearableprocessing device, a self-service checkout, and an appliance that ispart of the IoTs.

The first display agent 412 and the second display agent 422 are furtherconfigured to establish a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) wireless connection 430with one another, synchronize a scene presented on both the first 411and second 421 displays, and manage selective presentation ofinteractive animated objects within the synchronized scene on the first411 and second 421 displays by passing control and taken control ofselective ones of the interactive animated objects.

It should be appreciated that where software is described in aparticular form (such as a component or module) this is merely to aidunderstanding and is not intended to limit how software that implementsthose functions may be architected or structured. For example, modulesare illustrated as separate modules, but may be implemented ashomogenous code, as individual components, some, but not all of thesemodules may be combined, or the functions may be implemented in softwarestructured in any other convenient manner.

Furthermore, although the software modules are illustrated as executingon one piece of hardware, the software may be distributed over multipleprocessors or in any other convenient manner.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. Many otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of embodiments should therefore bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: identifying, by afirst device, a second device over a network connection; establishing aconnection between the first device and the second device over thenetwork connection; setting a synchronized scene that is presented on afirst display of the first device and a second display of the seconddevice, wherein setting further includes establishing, by the firstdevice, the synchronized scene as a scene object and passes the sceneobject to the second device, the second device processes the sceneobject establishing the synchronized scene for both the first device andthe second device, wherein setting further includes managing firstboundaries of the synchronized scene on the first display based on firstwidth, first height, first pixel density, first font size, and firstscaling factors of the first display and managing second boundaries ofthe synchronized scene on the second display based on second width,second height, second pixel densities, second font size, and secondscaling factors of the first display, and wherein setting furtherincludes initializing the synchronized scene on both the first displayand the second display with initial objects placed within the scene; andmanaging animated objects as the animated objects are passed back andforth over the network connection while being presented within thesynchronized scene on the first display and the second display.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein identifying further includes identifying thenetwork connection as a wireless Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network connection.3. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying further includesreceiving, by the first device, a message over the network connectionfrom a display agent processing on the second device.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein establishing further includes exchanging informationwith the display agent to establish the P2P network connection using aWi-Fi direct protocol.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein setting furtherincludes providing, by the first device, initial settings for thesynchronized scene to the display agent of the second device.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein providing further includes processing, by thefirst device, the settings with the scene object for presenting thesynchronized scene on the first display, and processing, by the displayagent of the second device, the settings within a second instance of thescene object for presenting the synchronized scene on the seconddisplay.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein processing further includesrendering, by the first device, at least some of the animated objectsexclusively on the first display based on processing the scene object.8. The method of claim 7, wherein rendering further includes rendering,by display agent of the second device, other ones of the animatedobjects exclusively on the second display based on processing the secondinstance of the screen object.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinmanaging further includes rendering select ones of animated objectsselectively on the first display and rendering other ones of theanimated objects selectively on the second display.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein managing further includes passing control of aparticular animated object being rendered on the first display to thesecond device for rendering the particular animated object on the seconddisplay when the particular animated object moves passed a sharedboundary between the first display and the second display and becomesout of bounds with respect to the first display.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein passing further includes rendering movement of theparticular animated object on the first display passed the sharedboundary in response to input received on the first device with respectto the particular animated object.
 12. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising, enforcing shared game rules on the animated objects by thefirst device and the second device within the synchronized scene as theanimated objects selectively move between being presented on the firstdisplay to the second display and as the animated objects selective movebetween being presented on the second display to the first display. 13.A method, comprising: rendering interactive animated objects on a firstdisplay controlled by a first device; moving at least one interactiveanimated object on the first display passed a shared boundary betweenthe first display and a second display controlled by a second deviceresponsive to interactive input received for the at least oneinteractive animated object; passing control of the at least oneinteractive animated object to the second device for continuouspresented movement of the at least one interactive animated object fromthe first display to the second display; and maintaining a synchronizedscene object on both the first display and the second display withinitial objects placed within the synchronized scene object during therendering, the moving, and the passing, wherein maintaining furtherincludes establishing the synchronized scene object by the first deviceand passing by the first device the synchronized scene object to thesecond device, the second device processes the synchronized sceneobject.
 14. The method of claim 13 further comprising, taking control ofa different interactive animated object passed from the second devicewhen the different interactive animated object passes the sharedboundary from presentation on the second display and presenting thedifferent interactive animated object on the first display once controlis taken from the second device.
 15. The method of claim 13 furthercomprising, processing at least one of the interactive animated objectsas an avatar presented on the first display.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein processing further includes receiving second interactive inputas voice instructions received through a microphone of the first devicefrom a user and translating the voice instructions into textinstructions for processing.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinprocessing further includes passing control of the avatar presented onthe first display to the second device for presentation on the seconddisplay based on image processing information received from a camera ofthe first device that tracks the user moving from a location of thefirst display to a second location associated with the second display.18. The method of claim 13 further comprising, processing the methodwhen a loyalty application is initiated and processed on the firstdevice, wherein the first device is a user-operated mobile device andthe second device is a digital sign.
 19. A system, comprising: a firstdevice comprising a first processor and a first non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructionsrepresenting a first display agent; a first display; a second devicecomprising a second processor and a second non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructionsrepresent a second display agent; and a second display; wherein thefirst display agent when executed by the first processor from the firstnon-transitory computer-readable storage medium causes the firstprocessor to and wherein the second display agent when executed by thesecond processor from the second non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium causes the second processor to: control, by the firstdisplay agent, the first display; control, by the second display agent,the second display; establish a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) wireless connectionwith one another; establish by the first device a scene object for ascene; passing by the first device the scene object for the scene to thesecond device; processing by the second device the scene object;synchronize the scene presented on both the first and second displayswith the scene including initial objects placed within the scene; andmanage selective presentation of interactive animated objects within thesynchronized scene on the first and second displays by passing controland taken control of selective ones of the interactive animated objects.20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first and second devices aredigital signs.